Continuous card form



June 1969 R. N. EICHORN 3, 50,

CONTINUOUS CARD FORM Filed July 14, 1967 Sheet of 2 H62 FIG. 1

2 LE 0 6 0 I o 9;1 2

/0 \O/ 2b 40 0 48/ o M INVENTOR I ROBERT M. 510mm ATTORNEY" June 17, 1969 Filed July 14, 1967 FIG.5

R. N. EICHORN 3,450,419

CONTINUOUS CARD FORM Sheet 3 of2 United States Patent 3,450,419 CONTINUOUS CARD FORM Robert N. Eichorn, Endwell, N. Y., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed July 14, 1967, Ser. No. 653,366 Int. Cl. B42d 19/00, 19/02 US. Cl. 281-5 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A continuous form stationary comprised of a series of record material portions secured together in shingle or alternate fashion, certain record material portions having slits and scores so placed that right hand or left hand folding is possible, allowing the folding in zig-gag fashion of the continuous form stationery to be facilitated.

BACKROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention Prior art This invention relates in general to an improved kind of continuous form stationary and more particularly to continuous form connected tabulating cards capable of being folded in a Zig-zag fashion.

With the advent of high speed tabulating machines, it has become desirable to pass forms through a high speed printer at an ever increasing speed. One method of increasing the through-put rate, without modifying the high speed printer, was to abandon the old approach of having the forms in a butt-to-butt relationship and to substitute a shingle or alternate relationship between adjacent forms. The shingle or alternate relationship basically allows a greater number of forms to pass through a printer operating at a given speed per unit time than had previously been obtained using the butt-to-butt relationship which employs the same printer operated at the same speed for the same unit time.

However, the use of the shingle or alternate relationship gives rise to a serious problem of folding the continuous form stationery. A first approach to this problem was a compromise, which was to place the forms in a shingled or alternate relationship until a fold was required and then to employ the butt-to-butt relationship to obtain the desired folding action. Another solution to this problem was to employ film strips so placed and so treated that the film strips acted as hinges and permitted folding of the continuous form. This solution however entailed the use of additional material and costly additional process steps in the manufacturing of the continuous form. Still another solution to this problem was to roll the forms up onto a drum after passing through the printer. This, however, was most unsuitable for use with tabulating cards for it caused warping and damage to the edges of the tabulating cards.

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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to form a continuous form stationery in shingle fashion that is capable of being folded in a zig-zag fashion.

Another object of the invention is to provide record material portions which facilitate right and left hand folds.

Another object of the invention is to provide record material portions which facilitate right hand folds.

Another object of the invention is to provide record material portions which facilitate left hand folds.

Another object of the invention is to form a continuous form stationery in alternate fashion that is capable of being folded in a zig-zag fashion.

Another object of the invention is to provide record material portions which facilitate either a right or left hand fold.

Briefly, the invention addresses itself to a web of continuous form stationery comprising a series of record material portions secured together shingled or alternate fashion. Each record material portion contains marginal strips detachably connected by lines of tear perforations to a center portion. The marginal strips are formed with pin feed perforations so spaced and related to print receiving lines on the record material portions that when record material portions are secured together the pin feed perforations are evenly spaced in the series of joined record material portions.

The record material portions are secured together only at their respective marginal strips leaving the center portion of the record material portion free. Right hand and left hand folds are accomplished by employing selected record material portions having selectively placed scores and slits to permit folding action wherein the secured marginal strips coact with the slits and scores to permit the marginal strips to act as hinges allowing the desired fold. By incorporating record material portions having these selectively placed slits and scores into a series of record material portions secured together in either alternate or shingle fashion, the series of record material portions may be folded in a zig-zag fashion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a series of record material portions connected in shingle fashion in which certain record material portions have slits and scores to allow both right and left hand folds.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the series of record material portions shown in FIG. 1 demonstrating relationship of record material portions placed in shingle fashion to each other.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of FIG. 1 showing the right and left hand folds allowing the series of record material portions to be folded in zig-zag fashion.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention which shows a series of record material portions connected in shingle fashion and containing record material portion having slits and scores to allow right hand folds and other record material portions having slits and scores to allow left hand folds.

FIG. 5 is a side view of another embodiment of the invention which shows a series of record material portions as shown in FIG. 6 demonstrating the relationship of record material portions placed in alternate fashion to each other.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a series of record material portions connected in alternate fashion and containing record material portions having slits and scores to allow either right or left hand folds according to its position in the series.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of FIG. 6 showing the right and left hand folds allowing the series of record material portions to be folded in a zig-zag fashion.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Description of embodiment one In reference to FIG. 1, a web of continuous form stationery is shown comprising a series of record material portions 2 secured together in shingle fashion. Each record material portion 2 contains marginal strips 4 detachably connected by lines of tear perforations 6 to a center portion 8. The marginal strip 4 being formed with pin feed perforations 10 so spaced and related to print lines on the record material portions 2 that when the record material portions 2 are secured together the pin fed perforations 10 are evenly spaced on the series of joined record material portions 2.

The center portion 8 of the record material portions 2 may contain one or more forms to receive print, connected side by side across the web and bordered by marginal strips 4. The width of the center portion 8 is, therefore, determined by the designer of the continuous form stationery.

A connection 12 is made between adjacent record material portions 2 only in the overlap area of the associated marginal strips 4 of the respective record material portions 2. The connection 12 can be made by means of hot paste, glue, adhesive, staples, etc. It is important to restress that only the areas that have the necessary slits and scores are joined in the overlap area of two adjacent record material portions 2 and that the center por tion 8 of the record material portions 2 are not joined together in any fashion to each other.

A right hand fold is obtained by placing record material portions having selectively placed scores and slits into the series of shingled record material portions 2. The bottom part of record material portions 2a and show the location of both the slits 14 and scores 16 with respect to the advancing record material portions 2b and 2d to allow a right hand fold at the junctions of record material portions 2a and 2b and the junction of record material portions 2c and 2d.

The criterion for slits 14, is that they extend from the trailing edge 18 of the record material portions 2a and 2c to a point past the leading edge 20 of the advancing record material portions 2b and 2d.

The criterion for scores 16 is that they are to be horizontally across the marginal strips 4 at a point between the leading edge 20 of the advancing record material portions 2b and 2d and the termination 22 of slits 14 on the record material portions 2a and 2c.

A left hand fold is obtained by placing record material portions having selectively placed scores and slits into the series of shingled record material portions 2. The top part of record material portions 20 and 2e shows the location of both the slits and scores 32 with respect to the preceding record material portions 2b and 211 to allow a left hand told at the junction of record material portions 2b and 2c and at the junction of record material portions 2d and 2e.

The criterion for slits 30 is that they extend from the leading edge 34 of record material portions 2c and 2e to a point past the trailing edge 36 of the preceding record material portions 2b and 2d.

The criterion for scores 32 is that they are to be horizontally across the marginal strips 4 of record material portions 20 and 22 at a point between the trailing edge 36 of the preceeding record material portions 2b and 2d and the termination 38 of slits 30 or record material portions 20 and 2e.

From the preceding discussion, it can be seen that four functional types of record material portions can exist.

Functional Type I (as exemplified by record material portions 2b and 2d) refers to record material portions having no slits or scores for folding.

Functional Type II (as exemplified by record material portion 2a) refers to record material portions having slits and scores to allow a right hand fold where the record material portion overlaps the advancing record material portion.

Functional Type III (as exemplified by record material portion 22) refers to record material portions with slits and scores to allow a left hand fold when record material portion is overlapped by the preceding record material portion.

Functional Type IV (as exemplified by record material portion 20) refers to record material portions with slits and scores to allow both right and left hand folds when the record material portions are connected in shingle fashion.

Now referring to FIG. 2, the relationship (as in FIG. 1) of a series of record material portions 2a through 2e placed in a shingle relationship to each other is shown.

Operation of embodiment one Referring to FIG. 3, a right hand fold 40 between Functional Type II record material portion 2a and Functional Type I record material portion 2b is demonstrated. The fold has a right hand action because record material portion 2a marginal strips 4 coacts with the slits and scores on record material portion 2a to form a hinge which can only operate in a right hand fashion due to the center portion 8 of the advancing record material portion 2b acting as a stop for a left hand fold. A left hand told 42 is demonstrated between Functional Type III I record material portion 2e and Functional Type I record material portion 2d. The fold has a left hand action because record material portions 2e marginal strips 4 coacts with the slits and scores or record material portion 2e to form a hinge which can only operate in a left hand fashion due to the center portion 8 of the preceding record material portion 2d acting as a stop for a right hand fold.

FIG. 3 also demonstrates a left hand fold 44 between Functional Type I record material portion 2b and Functional Type IV record material portion 20 and a right hand fold 46 between Functional Type I record material portion 2d and Functional Type IV record material portion 20. The respective right hand and left hand folding action is accomplished in the same manner as just discussed for a single right hand or left hand fold with record material portions 2b and 2d serving as stops to control the folding action.

In this first embodiment, where a right hand or left hand fold occurs between each record material portion, it is necessary to employ Functional Type IV record material portions. It should be noted that when using Functional Type IV record material portions, sufficient material must be left between the slits extending from the leading and trailing edges of the record material portions to maintain continuity of the form.

Description of embodiment two Referring now to FIG. 4, a second embodiment of the invention is shown in which a series of record material portions 3a through 3 are connected in shingle fashion but not restricted by the restriction of a right hand or left hand fold occurring between all record material portions. With this restriction lifted there is no restriction as to amount of overlap that can exist between record material portion in a shingle relationship to each other.

FIG. 4 shows an equal number of record material portions 3 between right hand fold 40' and left hand fold 42, this need not be the case. It is within the form designers option to place as many Functional Type I record material portions in series before introducing the proper Functional Type II or Functional Type III record material portion. An example of a sequence that might exist is 10 Functional Type I record material portions, 1 Functional Type II record material portion, 7 Functional Type I record material portions, 1 Functional Type III record material portion, 3 Functional Type I record material portions, 1 Functional Type II record material portion, etc.

Description of embodiment three The third embodiment of the invention relates to a web of continuous form stationery comprising a series of record material portions secured together in alternate fashion. FIG. shows the relationship of a series of record material portions 5a: through 5e placed in an alternate relationship to each other. Each record material portion has the same basic elements as the record material portions described in the first two embodiments. The connection 12 is still made only in the marginal strip 4 overlap area.

Referring to FIG. 5, it can be seen that two different relationships may exist between adjacent record material portions. The first relationship is where a record material portion overlaps the advancing record material portion as demonstrated by record material portions 5a and 5b. This relationship exists between all record material portions when placed in shingle form as was done in the first two embodiments. It, therefore, follows that these right hand folds and left hand folds follow the same criteria as in the first two embodiments. Functional Type H and Functional Type III record material portion can be employed to obtain the desired folding action under this relationship.

Now referring to FIG. 6 the second relationship is where a record material portion is overlapped by the advancing record material portion as demonstrated by record material portions 5b and 50. To obtain a left hand fold the bottom part of record material portion 5b must contain the necessary slits 50 and scores 52.

The criterion for slits 50, is that they extend from the trailing edge 54 of record material portion 5b to a point past the leading edge 56 of the advancing record material portion 50.

The criterion for scores 52 is that they are to be horizontally across the marginal strips 4 at a point between the leading edge of advancing record material portion 5c and the termination 58 of slits 50.

In like manner to obtain a right hand fold the scores and slits must be on the top portion of the advancing record material portion.

The criterion for the slits is that they extend from the leading edge of the advancing record material portion past the trailing edge of the preceding record material portion.

The criterion for the scores is that they are to be horizontally across the marginal strips of the advancing record material portion between the trailing edge of the preceding record material portion and the termination of the slits on the advancing record material portion.

This discussion gives rise to two new types of record material portions.

Functional Type V relates to record material portions having slits and scores to allow a right hand fold where the record material portion overlaps the preceeding record material portion.

Functional Type VI refers to record material portions having slits and scores to allow a left hand fold when the record material portion is overlapped by the advancing record material portion.

Operation of embodiment three Referring to FIG. 7, which demonstrates right hand folds 70, under the first relationship of adjacent record material portions Sa-Sb and 5c-5d, which operate in the manner as described in embodiment one. FIG. 7 also demonstrates left hand folds 72, under the second relationship of adjacent record material portions Sb-Sc and Sd-Se.

The fold 72 has left hand action because record material portions 5b coacts with the slits and scores in record material portion 5b to form a hinge which can only operate in a left handed fashion since the center portion 8 of .the advancing record material portion 50 acts as a stop for a right hand folding action.

FIG. 7 shows a fold between all record material portions in the web of continuous form stationery. This need not be the case, since a right hand fold or a left hand fold may be had at any junction and there is no criterion that a fold must occur at a junction. An example of a possible sequence is: 1 Functional Type II record material portion (right hand fold), 6 Functional Type I record material portions, 1 Functional Type VI record material portion (left hand fold), 4 Functional Type I record material portions, 1 Functional Type V record material portion (right hand fold), 3 Functional Type I record material portions, 1 Functional Type III record material portion (left hand fold), etc.

These embodiments allow a continuous form stationery designer to design a continuous form stationery in which record material portions are connected in shingle or alternate fashion and which has the capability to fold the continuous form stationery in a zig-zag fashion in any configuration he desires. A further advantage of this invention is that it allows the use of shingle or alternate continuous form stationery in a high speed printer while allowing folding of the continuous form stationery without warping or damage to the edges of the forms. Still another advantage of the invention is that it allows the creation of continuous form stationery capable of being folded with inexpensive modifications to existing record material portions that are now being used and the implementation of this invention is within the scope of todays manufacturing technology.

What is claimed is:

1. A web of folda-ble continuous form stationery comprising:

substantially rectangular record material portions each having marginal strips formed with pin feed perforations detachably connected by lines of tear perforations to a center portion;

connecting means for connecting only said marginal strips of said record material portions to form a continuous Web, each record material portion having an overlap relationship with the preceding and following record material portions in said continuous web; first folding means comprising:

said connecting means between a first record material portion and the preceding record material portion, and tfirst slits and first scores on said first record material portion,

said first slits extending along said lines of tear perforation from the leading edge of said first record material portion to a point after the trailing edge of said preceding record material portion, and said first scores extending horizontally across said marginal strips of said first record material portion parallel to said trailing edge of said preceding record material portion and located 'between the trailing edge of said preceding record material portion and the termination of said first slits; second folding means comprising:

said connecting means between a second record material portion and the following record material portion, and

second slits and second scores on said second record material portion,

said second slits extending along said lines of tear perforation from the trailing edge of said second record material portion to a point preceding the leading edge of said following record material portion, and said second scores extending horizontally across said marginal strips of said second record material portion parallel to the leading edge of said following record material portion and located between the leading edge of said following record material portion and the termination of said second slits; said continuous web being foldable along said score line in zig-zag fashion.

2. A web of foldable continuous form stationery as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first folding means has said preceding record material portion overlapping said first record material portion causing a left hand fold.

3. A web of foldable continuous form stationery as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first folding means has said preceding record material portion overlapped by .said first record material portion causing a right hand 'fold.

4. A web of foldable continuous form stationery as set forth in claim 1 wherein said second folding means has said following record material portion overlapping said second record material portion causing a right hand fold.

5. A web of foldable continuous form stationery as set forth in claim 1 wherein said second folding means has said following record material portion overlapped by said second record material portion causing a left hand fold.

6. A web of fold-able continuous form stationery as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first record material portion of said first folding means and said second record material portion of said second folding means are the same record material portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,853,223 4/1932 Power 281-5 2,319,165 5/1943 Sornberger 282-115 3,304,103 2/1967 Bensler et a1. 282-11.5 2,013,844 9/ 1935 Sherman.

JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner. 

